Change The Channel by Zublue \ EP Review

Zublue is a trio from Essex and this is their upcoming debut EP Change The Channel. I’ve only changed the channel only three times in my lifetime; the first was during an episode of Wacky Races when Dick Dastardly and Muttley clearly won the race for the first time and had it taken away from them, the second was when I came home and found my sister watching The Kardashians, and the third was on Easter Sunday when that awful film with the rabbits all killing eachother was on Channel 5. Anyway, as well as being from my personal ends of Essex Zublue are also influenced by the likes of Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and describe themselves as a Dave Grohl stunt double, a man “armed with a quiff of dangerous height” and a bassist who holds his bass the wrong way. Awesome.

Change The Channel boasts just three songs on this introduction to the eardrums and fortunately all three are great. Media kicks things off with a punchy guitar riff and drums that wanna drum your face off, laying down a perfect canvas for the lyrics to announce some rather media-hating words. The song follows a simple stop-start formula for its instrumental but the vocals and the cowbell cameo adds enough character to help it flow nicely. A good start to the EP.

Hammer The Nail follows suit as it delivers a much heavier, sludge-based sound which comes across really well. Zublue takes the energy down just a little bit for this one, but the sludgy guitar riffs sticks around long enough to get you stuck in this thunderous mud. There are some great vocals and backing vocals going on throughout this track. Another good’un. Change The Channel closes off with Stuck In Transmission, which once again is another high energy track that offers a whole load of guitar riffs and some excellent basslines just beneath them to add a little texture to the sound. It does slow down a tad as it heads down a more melodic route but does soon kick the tempo back up with a guitar solo that’s guaranteed to knock your jaw off. Hot damn.

Change The Channel is an excellent EP from Zublue and a great way to introduce yourself to the masses. Despite being short, it does off at least three reasons why you should get into the band. If you’re a fan of intense rock music then this is the EP for you, great stuff.